Restaurants using Locally-Sourced Ingredients

I apologize if my search abilities are not so great, but I did a few searches on LTH hoping to find a thread about restaurants / cafes / stores that source locally grown produce (also interested in other products like meat / dairy, but not as much).

I found Slow Food Chicago's list (http://www.slowfoodchicago.org/index.php/guide-to-chicago/restaurants/), but it seems like there are others that source local ingredients. Does anyone know of a more comprehensive list than this? Or can you add to it? I believe that The Bristol should be on it. http://www.thebristolchicago.com/


AMERICAN
North Pond
Blackbird
Lula Cafè
Naha
Vie
Green Zebra
West Town Tavern
Erwin
Hot Doug’s

ITALIAN
A Tavola
Coco Pazzo
Follia
Merlò
Spiaggia
Va Pensiero

FRENCH
Everest
La Petite Folie
Bistro Campagne
Le Bouchon

LATIN AMERICAN
Borinquen
El Rinconcito Cubano

CHINESE
Ed’s Potsticker House
Lao Sze Chuan
“Little” Three Happiness


Thanks!
Lindsay

Inovasi in Lake Bluff sources most of its ingredients locally.

-Will

I think Perennial deserves a spot on your list.

Sola

Or Province...

Actually, sourcing local seems to be an entrance requirement for opening a place in Chicago. It's practically expected of all restaurants at a certain level (and by that, I don't mean ultra high level joints such as Alinea -- these ethereal eating places have other priorities, like serving the best possible anything from anywhere).

David Hammond wrote:Or Province...

Actually, sourcing local seems to be an entrance requirement for opening a place in Chicago. It's practically expected of all restaurants at a certain level (and by that, I don't mean ultra high level joints such as Alinea -- these ethereal eating places have other priorities, like serving the best possible anything from anywhere).

I agree--middle to high-end restaurants not sourcing local would probably make up a shorter list...

boudreaulicious wrote:I agree--middle to high-end restaurants not sourcing local would probably make up a shorter list...

Good idea...

Restaurants that Go Out of Their Way to Tout that They Don't Give a Shit About Local Sourcing:
1) Graham Elliott

Interesting list. I'm not sure about some of thoses. Riconcito Cubano sources local food? Hot Doug's? It would be cool if they did.

On the other hand, I can prattle off tons of places NOT on that list. I think if you look at the Green City BBQ menu, it would give you a decent idea of the places with the most attention to sourcing local.

Mado, Signature Room, Markethouse, the May St. one that is off of Grand, the Urbans, Big Jones, Lillie Q, Nightwood, Marion St. Cheese; the new place in the Art Institute, those are ones that should be real high on a list.

lindsaybanks wrote:I found Slow Food Chicago's list (http://www.slowfoodchicago.org/index.php/guide-to-chicago/restaurants/), but it seems like there are others that source local ingredients. Does anyone know of a more comprehensive list than this? Or can you add to it? I believe that The Bristol should be on it. http://www.thebristolchicago.com/

I think you misunderstood their list. This is not a list of restaurants that use locally-sourced ingredients. It is just a list of restaurants that they reviewed. You can click on each name for a little blurb about the restaurant. By contrast, restaurants marked with the Slow Food snail icon are those that go "above and beyond in [their] commitment to supporting local farmers, cooking seasonally, and adopting everyday practices that contribute to a better environment." Including LTH and Hot Doug's was a tip-off that these weren't places that feature local ingredients.

Darren72 wrote:I think you misunderstood their list.

Indeed, I did! It just seems like this is a list that should exist somewhere...but maybe the definition of "sourcing local food" is too broad or not defined at all. Maybe there is a restaurant that grows their own basil, but that's all. Would that count?

Thanks to all for the other additions! I'll keep my eyes out for a locavore list of restaurants.

Uncommon Ground, Hot Chocolate were others I thought of...

Also, City Farm has a list of places that use their produce (some already mentioned in this thread):
http://www.resourcecenterchicago.org/70thfarm.html

Frontera Grill & Topolobampo
Vie Restaurant
North Pond
Lula Cafe
Nightwood
Gilt Bar
Signature Room
Sepia
Chilam Balam
Dill Pickle Food Coop
Green Grocer

Hyperlinked list from Green City Market. (Slightly out of date)

"These chefs and restaurants support the Market by participating in Market events and/or purchasing Market products."

Thanks G Wiv, that's a great list. Just what i was looking for.

Hot Chocolate and Naha do a large amount of sourcing from farms within 200 miles of Chicago, and I heard from one of the owners that Pork Shoppe sources their livestock from around the Rockford area.

I'm going to make a Google Doc with the info collected here so far, to be more throughly filled out at some point when I have fewer deadlines and presentations to prepare!

Feel free to contribute. I'll do my best to fact-check, with help from Rob at the Local Beet.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key ... y=CPzMiOIG